buildingSMART® International, members of the Nemetschek Group, Tekla® and other leading software vendors have joined forces to launch a global program to help promote Open BIM collaboration workflows throughout the AEC industry.

Open BIM is a universal approach to the collaborative design, realization and operation of buildings based on open standards and workflows. Open BIM is an initiative of the buildingSMART organization and several leading software vendors using the open buildingSMART Data Model.

Project members can work with any of the “best-of-breed” solutions in their respective fields without risking “incompatibility” hence exclusion from certain BIM projects

Project members can maintain full control over software upgrades independently from their peers on the different AEC projects they participate in

Accessibility of BIM data is provided for the entire lifecycle of buildings including design, construction and operation

The Open BIM program’s aim is to help coordinate efforts related to the promotion and implementation of Open BIM collaboration workflows by providing common definitions, requirements and branding. AEC software vendors, AEC practices (designers, engineers, contractors) as well as AEC projects are all welcome to participate and use the OPEN BIM logo as a promise of successful and streamlined collaboration.

01 - The new Open BIM logo looks like this. Initiatives include the ability for a wider array of participants in Open BIM to co-brand their BIM workflow processes and philosophies towards open standards using this logo.

The buildingSMART organization is a neutral, international and unique not-for-profit industry alliance supporting Open BIM through the life cycle of a building. The group develops, maintains and issues certifications for the data model standard known as Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). The IFC standard was accepted by ISO (ISO/PAS 16739: 2005). Full ISO accreditation is in progress.